Spidertracks: Learning to Fly

Spidertracks is a worldwide leader in its field - operating out of Palmerston North.

James McCarthy, CEO of Spidertracks, will share with us the Spidertracks journey:

Why Spidertracks? How did we start.

Emphasis on product - good or bad - a typical NZ condition?

People

Governance, management and where people should be

Sales and Marketing - making sure you understand your market is a key element of where we are now

In 2005 a high profile New Zealand businessman crashed on a flight from Auckland to Queenstown. His helicopter was fitted with the latest Emergency Locator Transmitter technology but it failed to transmit so it was 14 days before they found the helicopter in a tiny patch of native forest. It took two weeks because they didn't have a signal to work from and when they couldn't locate the accident site from his flight plan, searchers widened the search until 16,000 sq km was covered.

Down near Palmerston North, a R22 pilot with an innovative nature decided that if anything happened to him while flying, he'd like to be found fast. A search of existing technology found that there was aircraft tracking technology available that tracked aircraft in near real time, but it was expensive, complicated and well beyond practical use in light aircraft.

The pilot and young engineer took the existing idea and with great kiwi ingenuity made two significant changes that made aircraft tracking technology accessible to all pilots - they shrunk it and made it portable.

Innovate is a community of entrepreneurs within the Manawatu, Wanganui and Tararua who meet to share their experiences, glean great strategies on growing their businesses or ideas from each other and generally get energised from connecting with people who are walking the same journey.

Innovate U, a 3 week workshop, is dedicated to teaching lean methodologies. Hosted by BCC, Innovate U will focus on clarifying the business model canvas and exploring why it's such a powerful tool when working through the early stages of your idea or venture.